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THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



Why Doesn't the Fish Escape. 



Bristol, Connecticut. 

 To the Editor : 



On one of my numerous walks in the 

 country last month, 1 came to a pond nest- 

 ling m a little hollow and surrounded on 

 three sides by a forest. As I stood ad- 

 miring the beautiful sheet of water in its 

 arboreal setting, I noticed a signboard 

 nailed high up in a tree. It read, "No 

 fishing in the pond under penalty of the 

 law." Beneath this was the name of the 

 owner. I had no sooner read the sign 

 than I heard what seemed to be a low 

 scream of derisive laughter and a king- 

 fisher settled on that sign. As plainly as 

 as possible he said, "1 intend to fish in 

 this pond as much as I please !" To him 

 the sign was only a joke. 



As I passed down the road I pondered 

 the question that has often puzzled me, 

 one that I have never seen discussed in 

 my somewhat extended reading upon sub- 

 jects connected with natural science. Why 

 does a fish submit to capture by a bird? 

 I have watched the osprey catch fish at 

 the shore. It rarely misses its quarry. 

 The bird would circle for at least twenty 

 feet in the air above the water then sud- 

 denly dive, making a splash so great that 

 it should have alarmed every fish within 

 a hundred yards. For four or five sec- 

 onds it would remain under the water, 

 then emerge with a fish in its talons. The 

 kingfisher makes a lesser splash when it 

 dives, but great enough to attract the at- 

 tention of any one in the vicinity. 



A fish is built for submarine rapid 

 transit. It can dart forward with great 

 rapidity; it might put scores of feet be- 

 tween it and the fisher during the time 

 the bird takes to reach it from the sur- 

 face. Why not? 



Two explanations have occurred to 

 me : one is that the fish is so paralyzed by 

 fright when the splash occurs that it be- 

 comes incapable of motion ; another is 

 that a school is so busy feeding that the 

 approach of the diver is not noticed. Is 

 (either answer correct? 



Mild Leon Norton. 



The Pepper Tree. 

 A fount of lace-like green with roseate 



spray, 

 Its cooling touch it lends to summer day. 



— Emma Peirce. 



The Value of the Species. 



Were it not for the fact, constantly 

 being called to our attention, that birds 

 in general are of great benefit to man- 

 kind from an economical point of view, 

 we ought to admire them none the less, 

 and should seek just as earnestly to 

 protect them and preserve them from 

 extinction. Unfortunately, however, 

 too many of us must be shown in dol- 

 lars and cents the value of a bird to 

 the community or the individual before 

 we are willing to give our support to 

 laws that will protect them. 



Does not the bluebird mean more to 

 us than the amount of insects which it 

 devours in our orchard, and is not the 

 screech owl a part of the very spirit of 

 the dusk and the evening, irrespective 

 of the number of field mice or meadow 

 mice which it catches? Those of us 

 that attempt to weigh the robin in the 

 balance with the earthworm that he 

 pulls from our lawn, or to check 

 against him the fruit that he takes from 

 our garden, surely miss much in setting 

 a value on the bird. We have not 

 weighed his beauty or his song, and 

 who, then, can estimate his total value? 



When the passenger pigeon disap- 

 peared from our country we lost a fea- 

 ture of bird life that has never been 

 replaced ; and if we were to allow such 

 birds as the great blue heron, the tur- 

 key vulture and the pelican to be ex- 

 terminated, something upon which we 

 cannot put a cash value would be for- 

 ever absent from our landscape, and 

 we would unnecessarily deprive those 

 who come after us from partaking of 

 the pleasures which we now possess 

 as a priceless heritage from our fore- 

 fathers. 



There are but few who do not note 

 and appreciate the difiference between 

 a barren desert and a shady woodland ; 

 a forest devoid of wild life and one in 

 which it abounds ; a silent area of wood 

 land and meadow, or one ringing with 

 the happy songs, and bright with the 

 flashing colors of the birds. Whether 

 it be trees, flowers, birds or animals, 

 we should think long and carefully 

 before we destroy life to extermination, 

 or allow others so to destroy it. We 

 know little enough at best, of the in- 

 tricate relations of one form of life to 



